That One Incident in the Corridor
by Marcipie
Summary: Maria has been having strange feelings for a certain hedgehog and her odd behavior is making Shadow very curious. R&R. OneShot.


**That One Incident in the Corridor  
By The Sole Survivor**

**--**

Maria Robotnik was walking casually down the corridor of the ARK with her hands folded behind her back, humming in thought. She calmly observed the steel bolted walls as she had her entire life. Her bright blue eyes closed as she slowed to a goose step. Her small hand ran along the metal, the coolness of it invading the warmth of her palm. She placed her other hand upon it and faced it, staring at the wall, as if she were challenging it. Her head was full of thoughts lately, and she didn't know what to make of it.

"Why?" Maria asked herself, squinting at an invisible spot on the steel. "Why am I thinking of him like this? We're... best friends..." Her blue eyes opened when she heard the familiar hissing sound of the door at the end of the corridor.

"What are you doing?" A deep, velvet voice asked her, startling her out of her deep thoughts. Maria's head jerked in the direction of the voice, her blonde hair whipping around her face as she searched for the familiar crimson eyes of the black hedgehog. Shadow stood at the end of the hallway, his gloved hand rested on his hip as the automatic door closed behind him. His red irises were questioning as he regarded her position. He raised one cool eyebrow, but didn't move otherwise.

Maria blinked. "Oh!" She pulled herself away from the wall and brushed her hands together, laughing slightly. "I wasn't doing anything! I was just..." The blonde trailed off and frowned, a small blush staining her cheeks. Her mind had suddenly come up blank. Maria averted her eyes quickly when he hummed in thought. She jumped slightly when he began walking toward her, his eyes never leaving her form. He smiled lightly when he approached her.

"Doing... nothing, huh?" Maria felt her heart skip a beat when she noticed his smile. "Maria, are you sure?" He asked, his voice a soft tone. She knew he was teasing her, just like he always did. But recently, Maria had been receiving the vibes of teasing and transforming them into flirtation, and that made her go into a panic. Since she began having romantic thoughts about the hedgehog, she loved to be around him but at the same time couldn't stand the amount of emotions he stirred within her.

'_Oh no..._' She thought frantically. The creature standing calmly beside her was the Ultimate Life Form, which meant he had ultimate everything, like for instance, hearing. If Shadow were to notice her heart beating like this, she'd never live it down! She had to get away from him, and fast. Her blue eyes darted around quickly as she thought of Escape Plan: Distract Shadow. The black hedgehog blinked and lowered his hand from his hip as he watched her.

Maria had to think quickly. "Uh... um… Hey! Shadow! I just... got this weird feeling in my... leg!" She tried her hardest not to get worked up about the adorable confusion that appeared on his face at her words. "So... yeah, not really a thing I want to ignore! I'll... see you later, Shadow!" Flashing the bewildered hedgehog a bright smile, she turned in the opposite direction and took off like a rabid bull heading down the hallway out of sight. Shadow continued to stare at the spot she was in before blinking slowly and shaking his head.

"I think she spends too much time in that air-containment room." He muttered to himself and turned to head back the way he came.

Maria's head poked out from the corner of the hallway. She blinked and placed her back against the wall and breathed out a sigh of relief when she didn't see him.

"That was close." She muttered.

"What was close?" Shadow, having reappeared while she wasn't looking, asked from beside her, making Maria shriek and jump backwards. She ended up tripping on her shoe and falling flat on her face in her panic. Shadow stared at her in suspicion. "Why are you acting so clumsy around me all of a sudden?" He folded his arms and gave her a raised eyebrow as he awaited her answer.

'_Because I think I'm in love with you..._' The blonde on the floor groaned at herself then slowly eased herself up onto her elbows and rolled over on her back. Raising her eyes to look at his crimson ones, she had to look away. She felt her face heating up quickly and she began to slide backwards with her hands and feet until she hit the opposite wall.

"No reason, Shadow, I've just been--" She stopped dead when Shadow rolled his eyes, sighed slightly and walked toward her with his hand stretched to her. He continued to stand in that position for quite some time while Maria sat on the floor, giving him the most stunned of looks.

"Don't you want help?" He asked her lightly, trying not to lose his patience. The blonde blinked and the blush on her face magnified, spreading from her cheeks to her neck. She averted her blue eyes again before Shadow began to have an understanding of what was wrong with Maria. He blinked in astonishment, dropping his hand and kneeling in front of her slowly, his eyes never leaving her face. If his suspicions were correct, Maria was hiding something from him.

And he wasn't about to let that happen.

Crawling toward her on his hands and knees, Shadow stopped when he was mere inches from her face, trying to catch her gaze. Maria, having been lost in a thought about how much he was torturing her, finally realized that the object of her affections was right in front of her face. Startled, she attempted to jump back only to hit her head on the wall. Wincing, she reached up to rub her head when a large, white gloved hand snagged it, bringing it down to her lap. Slowly, she turned her head to his questioning gaze. "Uh…" His frown deepened, making him look serious.

"Maria," He started, his pink tongue darted out of his mouth for a split second, catching the blonde's attention fast. She gulped with her eyes wide. "I think I know what's going on here." The second those words left his mouth, Maria Robotnik paled and her heart thumped uncomfortably in her chest. Her eyes darted, searching everywhere for a more interesting thing to look at but her eyes kept wandering back to Shadow's crimson irises.

"Really." She mumbled, sounding disinterested and attempted to stand up and slide away only to find that Shadow copied her, never moving his face. His gaze narrowed.

"Yes, really. I'm beginning to think that you're hiding something from me, Maria, and I don't like it." She blinked. "Now either you tell me, or I find out the hard way. Because you know I'll find out one way or another, don't you?" His eyes never left her face, searching for any kind of change in her emotions. What he didn't expect to find were tears streaming down her reddened cheeks. He was quickly beginning to regret being so upright serious with her. Shadow sighed and closed his eyes, hung his head and rested his hand on the metal beside her.

"You're right." His eyes popped open and his head rose slowly to look into her eyes. The blush was still on her face, but her eyes were no longer leaking with tears. She had a slight smile on her face as she regarded his curious expression at her change of moods. "I am hiding something from you. But it's not what you think it is."

"Enlighten me." He murmured, his attention never wavering. Maria sighed, closing her eyes and lowering her head. Shadow waited, and finally heard her whisper something under her breath. His ears twitched and he bent to look at her face. "Louder." He demanded softly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as if deciding on something, and then in one quick motion she raised her head with her blue eyes flashing and spoke.

"I like you." Shadow cautiously eyed her as he thought about her answer.

"And I like you too." He replied slowly before sighing. "Now tell me what's really bothering you, Maria." The blonde huffed and rolled her eyes.

"No, you don't get it!" The hedgehog shook his head and rolled his own eyes.

"What's not to get? All I don't understand is what your real problem is! Don't try and confuse me by telling me what I already know!" Maria could tell he was getting frustrated. She tried to reason with him, she really did. But she couldn't take his thick headedness any longer, so she quickly lost her patience by shouting,

"Shadow, you still don't get it! I'm in love with you!"

The air stilled around them. From the way her black red-striped friend froze in his breathing, Maria was starting to regret telling him the truth. To Shadow, it felt as though his whole body had detached itself from his head. He couldn't believe the words that had left Maria's mouth. Was she playing with him? Slowly he took a breath and looked at her to check. She looked nervous and scared. No way could she have faked that.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he thought about his options.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Maria mumbled and turned away from him. She shook her head to keep tears from leaking out again and prepared to make a hasty get-away when she felt a large gloved hand wrap itself gently around her wrist to keep her rooted.

"Maria." He murmured quietly, his eyes closed and his ears lowered. She didn't understand it. How could he make her shiver with just the sound of his voice? She turned around, preparing to get the worst of it. "Is that really what you've been keeping bottled up all this time?"

"Yes…" She hung her head, almost ashamed. Thinking he was mad at her, she started to turn around to walk off again when she felt a tug on her hand, and suddenly she found herself pulled down to her knees and into a lip lock with the dark hedgehog. A squeak erupted from her throat and her eyes widened. She took one look at Shadow's closed eyes and completely melted against him; wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him flush against her.

Shadow felt himself actually enjoying the kiss more than he thought he would. His plan had been to give her a comforting peck to show he cared, but it turned into a completely different situation. Breaking apart for air, Maria found that during their act of intimacy, Shadow had repositioned her against the metal wall and they had their bodies interloped with one another. His hands held her head close and her arms were so tight around him, he could feel her arms shaking with the strain.

Breathing heavily, their eyes locked. One word passed through both their lips.

"Wow."

Shadow blinked and licked his lips while he untangled himself from Maria. Her eyes were still closed, as if she were still in the moment. He felt his muzzle heating up and he quickly turned while around rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, the full impact of what he'd just done finally catching up to him. Clearing his throat, he walked off with stiff legs. Before he got to the automatic door, the safe haven for the hedgehog at that moment, he heard a soft, "Wait."

Shadow winced, his shoulders inching up to his neck. So much for getting away before the effect wore off on her. He turned slowly to face her and found her in the same position as when he'd left her. She was half kneeling on the floor against the metal wall with a small smile on her lips. Getting up gradually, Maria's face never changed as she made her way to him. He blinked when she approached him and knelt before him.

"Thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog." She spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper. His ear twitched and he nodded at a snail's pace.

"You're welcome, but for what?" He asked, tilting his head.

"For my first kiss."

--  
**TSS: Say it with me, AWW! Cute right? I thought so. Something that took half a week or so to complete. I have a life, okay? To explain this, I really just wanted to see a cute ShadowxMaria oneshot in the Sonic section. I've seen some really cute ones, but none yet that hit the 'AWW' spot for me yet. So I'm waiting and in my wait I made this. Enjoy, and I hope this hit your 'AWW' button just like it hit mine!**

Disclaimer: I own no rights for Sonic the Hedgehog characters. They are owned by someone else. Hah.


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